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Continued from the discus begginers guide

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Cliff, I will be attempting breeding but I want to start with 2in fish and perfect my rearing and growth habbits with the fish I get. I have all these tanks that so many new projects are in mind.

On softening water... I was thinking of getting a 300gallon container and aireating the water in a big mulch of peat and oak leaves that are all around this time of year. Do you guys think that the chemical softening and tannic acids will take effect enough for dialy water changes to happen?

It will soften the water daily but the question is: by how much. The initial 300 gallons may be softer than the ones to come and so on. Peat is a great way to soften your water but IMO it doesn't yield a stable result. From what I've read and learnt from Discus breeders I've spoken too, if you have liquid rock the best option is to get an RO system. You can either mix an ro/tap water ratio to achieve your desired levels or use a product like Kents essentials to reconstitute your RO water. An RO system really isn't that costly, I can suggest several great companies if you're interested. Personally I haven't began to breed them yet but I did all the necessary research into the RO etc. Also with two inch fish you're going to be doing a lot of feeding and water changes, I'm talking about at least one 90-100% daily for optimum growth so consistency is the key and once again IMO you can't get that with peat.

Edit: I just saw your signature, you have SW tanks, you're good to go.

Cliff, I will be attempting breeding but I want to start with 2in fish and perfect my rearing and growth habbits with the fish I get. I have all these tanks that so many new projects are in mind.

Sounds like a fun project

I'm sorry but I have never kept or raised discus so I'm afraid I can not be of much help with that.

But I am looking forward to reading of your progress.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Mojo: Yeah I run SW so I know enough to be dangerous. On w/c and water R/o units: if thats all I need then Im golden. I have a reliable source of R/O water (my grandfathers house has one in line with the tap system) and I would love to know a reliable one that consistantly either for Aquariums can be put in line or can be put on a trash can or water barel to get me a 55-75gal a day ratio.

I have done a lot of research over the past several years and had breeding discus in Portland 7.4ph. I just need to get my current stuff below 8!

If you really want to you can breed in water over 8, TDS is what comes to play when it comes to breeding honestly. Once your 2 inch fish mature and hopefully some proven pairs form, they will lay the eggs but the harder the water is the less time the sperm has to penetrate the egg sack, therefore your wriggler count will be much higher in softer water/ low tds. Note to grow out discus, it has been proven that they grow faster in water with a higher mineral (tds) count. Lower TDS is for breeding pretty much but I'm just stating this in case you don't already know.

The only thing you have to be wary of is your seasonal tap water changes. If you're going to be mixing with RO you may have to adjust your ro/tap water ratio according to your tap water. That's my biggest worry so when the time comes to set up my breeding tank I might consider using Kent's essentials.

Get at least ten discus (young) and raise them. The odds are good (but no guarantee here)that at least two will pair off. Then you have your discus to breed.

Water changes for breeding is a 100% change so unless you already have soft water, peat treatment will not work for a 100 gal tank; R/O is how most do it (mixing as mojo says.)

Read carefully my post on raising young discus - pure water and good food is critical (need not be soft to raise.)

Best of luck!

Aside: once again I'm not able to load the forum at home ... so any responses could be delayed ... .

Last edited by Cermet; 01-16-2013 at 10:10 AM.

Knowledge is fun(damental)

A 75 gal with eight Discus, fake plants, and a lot of wood also with sand substrate. Clean up crew is down to just two Sterba's Corys. Filters: continuous new water flow; canister w/UV, in-tank algae scrubber!! Finally, junked the nitrate removal unit from hell.

That was the plan, getting 10-12 of the same strain and raise them to pair off. With ro/di and the water changes required I think its pretty easily attainable as long as I have the full set up.

Here is my question on the ro system. I would basically have a set up where the ro system would go on a seperate container to pretreat all water and then be transfered to the tank 1 day in delay so as not to give a fluctuation on the water to and from the tank in a direct water change right? I was going to do this with the peat already so its not a problem but making sure I cant make this easier.

I am confused - will you be using 100% R/O? That is not safe. Soaking in peak would help but that stuff will exhaust at some point and you'd need to guess or measure carefully. Trace Ca is the critical element (there are othet ones but that is the most important.)

Since the tank has 100% of its water changed daily, as long as temperature is matched, and it isn't pure R/O, I would not think pH matching would be an issue at all.

Knowledge is fun(damental)

A 75 gal with eight Discus, fake plants, and a lot of wood also with sand substrate. Clean up crew is down to just two Sterba's Corys. Filters: continuous new water flow; canister w/UV, in-tank algae scrubber!! Finally, junked the nitrate removal unit from hell.